Estate agent/solicitor fees

It's always been that way, Newquay. I used to work in solicitors' offices, for many years on conveyancing, and it always irritated me that Estate Agents got a percentage of the sale price however little actual work they did to sell the property, while solicitors have to quote a fee from the outset and do all the actual legal work! (including taking the flak if anything goes wrong...)

We paid our solicitor a substantial sum for organising sale/purchase. He needed a lot of gingering up which was pretty irritating - even to the point where I had to ring up and ask a lady in the office whether completion had happened as he had not told us it had!

I agree that estate agents get a good deal - and they do not always have to do that much for it - if it is an appealing property it sells itself.

I have to put a good word in here for my estate agents. They have been fantastic not just selling my house, but coordinating my rental too. They have all been really helpful and kind and I can't fault them.
Guess I've been lucky

It all depends how long the house is on the market and how much the agents do, sometimes very little, sometimes quite a lot.We have bought and sold lots of houses and the solicitor always charges a great deal too! They have a lot of work though, all the searches and so on.they all seem to need a bit of gingering up,and work faster for those clients who pester them most.

Our Estate agent charged thousands, were very pleasant, hands on etc. They got their money, sent electronically as soon as the purchase went through, then not a word from them! No 'thank you' or ' nice doing business with you '.

Their cavellier attitude has really annoyed me. They would have found us quickly enough if their fee had been short!

Our solicitor, who received considerably less, was charming and provided an excellent service. Thanked us for our business and repaid money that the searches had overcharged.
But I suppose that's the difference between real Professions and unregulated bods!

Yes that's what I thought J52. I understand anyone can set up as an estate agent while it takes years of study to qualify as a solicitor and don't they have to have ongoing professional training too?
Sounds like the tail wagging the dog to me.
Wonder why no one does anything about it? Like reduce estate agents fee and increase solicitors? Say, 50/50 each of total-(it never rains on my planet, all is fair)!

In Scotland ( no comments about SNP, please) the estate agents are part of the Solicitors business, so it's all tied in together.
When we bought our Scottish house we signed an agreement for the solicitor to act for us. It was all done and dusted by them, we just paid up! No sleepless nights or running back and forward to sign bits of paper. All at a reasonable cost. I understand that selling is also quite straight forward.

As Scottish inheritance law is different they even offered us a free will!